Dog Bites Vacuum. Vacuum Bites Back?
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Dog Bites Vacuum. Vacuum Bites Back? MR. SAM LITZINGER
12:43:34
I'm Sam Litzinger with Dr. Gary Weitzman of the San Diego Humane Society. Ask your animal-related questions at 1-877-610-3647 or animalhouse@wamu.org. Again, the telephone number is 877-610-3647. You can email animalhouse@wamu.org. Let's go right to work and take a telephone call from Marianne. Marianne, glad to have you with us in "The Animal House." Question for Dr. Gary?
MARIANNE
12:44:00
I have two cats, and I've had them since they were kittens, got them from the local shelter, girl and a boy, they're littermates. They're about a year-and-a-half old now, and they are spayed and they're neutered.
DR. GARY WEITZMAN
12:44:12
Okay.
MARIANNE
12:44:12
Their names are Dylan and Abby. They've always wrestled as kittens, and back then they were little enough that it was just all in play, very cute, wonderful, but now they're growing up. So when they do wrestle, I don't hear any growling, I hear a rare meow, no hissing, no blood drawn, but I do sometimes see them break out of their wrestling with their ears back a little bit, their tails whipping, and then they launch back at each other and continue wrestling.
MARIANNE
12:44:38
What concerns me the most though is that they scratch each other on the face near the eyes with their back claws and their back legs are pretty powerful, and I do keep...
WEITZMAN
12:44:46
Hmm, okay.
MARIANNE
12:44:47
...their back claws trimmed, you know, but I'm concerned about damage to their eyes. But most of all what concerns me is when I see one, and it's usually Dylan, getting Abby on her back and basically putting his teeth right on her throat.
WEITZMAN
12:45:02
Mm-hmm.
MARIANNE
12:45:02
Now, again, no blood ever drawn, no, in my opinion, overt signs of major aggression, but...
WEITZMAN
12:45:08
Right.
MARIANNE
12:45:08
...in a split second, if he changes his mind and decides to bite down on her throat, she can be in serious trouble I think.
WEITZMAN
12:45:15
Yeah.
MARIANNE
12:45:16
So on the one hand, I don't want to risk breaking their bond as littermates. I want them to play. I want them to enjoy each other, but on the other, I don't want them to hurt each other, and if this is a symptom of something that could get worse, I need to figure out when I should intervene, and on the other hand...
WEITZMAN
12:45:33
Right. How to nip it in the bud.
MARIANNE
12:45:34
Yeah. I don't want to come down on them...
WEITZMAN
12:45:36
Yeah.
MARIANNE
12:45:36
...for simply being cats.
WEITZMAN
12:45:38
If they're doing this and they've been doing this since they were kittens, if their other behavior is to hang out together and to seem to like each other's company, you don't have to worry about this. And if Dylan wanted to really get aggressive with Abby, he would.
MARIANNE
12:45:54
Mm-hmm.
WEITZMAN
12:45:55
Keep an eye on it. If it starts to get worse, or they're swatting at each other, I mean, that's the other thing too. Cats are pretty overt about how they feel about each other afterward. So if they're still hanging out together and they're okay, I think you're fine. And I agree with you, you don't want to discourage play. It's the best enrichment in the world for these guys.
MARIANNE
12:46:13
Oh, exactly. You know, and they do hang out on the cat tree together, they can eat within proximity of each other.
WEITZMAN
12:46:19
Okay.
MARIANNE
12:46:20
I suspect part of this is somewhat territorial, especially on Dylan's part. I think he's kind of growing up and trying to assert himself to Abby.
WEITZMAN
12:46:27
Yes.
MARIANNE
12:46:28
Because oftentimes she'll be sitting somewhere very innocently, and he will start the wrestling session...
WEITZMAN
12:46:34
Yeah.
MARIANNE
12:46:34
...and she will just get like enough of this, and she will walk away, and then he will sit down exactly where she was sitting, like this is where I want to be.
WEITZMAN
12:46:40
Oh, the -- okay. Yeah.
MARIANNE
12:46:42
So some of it I think is a little bit of a difference in...
WEITZMAN
12:46:45
But that's very normal. That's very normal.
MARIANNE
12:46:47
Yeah. Yeah.
WEITZMAN
12:46:47
And that's how they interact, and I think they're probably communicating pretty well with each other. You're smart to keep an eye out for it and make sure it doesn't get worse, and you're also very smart to trim those back nails, and the front ones if you can do it.
MARIANNE
12:46:59
Yes. Oh, yeah.
WEITZMAN
12:47:00
But the thing that -- and I bet you're also smart enough that you've done this, make sure that they both have a safe place for time out so that if Dylan is the more energetic, more quote/unquote "aggressive" one, make sure that Abby has a place that she can escape to, you know, that there's a place on the cat tree she can jump up to, or there's a room she can go in, just so there's enough space for them, that's all. Cats change as they get older. So a year and a half, they're about to become adults.
MARIANNE
12:47:26
Yeah.
WEITZMAN
12:47:26
They really technically are.
MARIANNE
12:47:27
Right.
WEITZMAN
12:47:28
And, you know, the kittens that used to always play together sometimes don't as they get to become adults.
MARIANNE
12:47:33
Mm-hmm.
WEITZMAN
12:47:33
So I would just watch to make sure things don't escalate, but I think it's okay. It's normal cat communication.
MARIANNE
12:47:39
The last question I would have then is if everything that they're doing right now is okay, then where is that line? When I see X, that's when I should intervene. What is that line in your opinion?
WEITZMAN
12:47:49
An injury is that line, and an injury can be an accident. We've all done that, especially as, you know, boys growing up. But -- and sometimes girls too of course. That's obviously the line that you don't want to cross more than once.
MARIANNE
12:48:01
Okay.
WEITZMAN
12:48:02
And hopefully it won't even be a big crossing of that line that one time. But the line for me really is their interaction when they're not acting like this. So when you see that these guys don't like each other, can't be in the room with each other, there's a hissing from the other side of the room, or Abby ducks to go out the other way, that's the line that needs to be watched. That's more important.
MARIANNE
12:48:24
Yeah. They're nowhere near that. Definitely not.
WEITZMAN
12:48:26
Okay.
MARIANNE
12:48:26
Okay.
WEITZMAN
12:48:27
You're good.
LITZINGER
12:48:27
Thank you, Marianne.
MARIANNE
12:48:28
Thank you so much.
LITZINGER
12:48:29
Let's take a telephone call from Maureen. Maureen, glad to have you with us in "The Animal House." Question for Dr. Gary?
MAUREEN
12:48:34
Hi, Dr. Gary.
WEITZMAN
12:48:35
Hi there.
MAUREEN
12:48:35
I'm calling about our four-and-a-half year old adopted dog named Spud, who we've had since he was about six months old.
WEITZMAN
12:48:43
Okay.
MAUREEN
12:48:43
He's a -- we think he's a Terrier Boxer mix, and he's a super sweet guy.
WEITZMAN
12:48:48
Oh, good.
MAUREEN
12:48:48
He gets along with our eight-year-old Jack Russell Terrier, he gets along with the kids and with me, and he's nearly always extremely eager to please except in two situations.
WEITZMAN
12:48:59
Uh-oh. Okay.
MAUREEN
12:48:59
And when this happens, he has like a freak switch that goes off, and we can't do a lot to control him.
WEITZMAN
12:49:05
Oh, boy. Okay.
MAUREEN
12:49:05
The first situation is when the vacuum cleaner is touched. It doesn't even have to get turned on. He loses his mind.
WEITZMAN
12:49:12
Oh.
MAUREEN
12:49:12
And the second is -- I'm sorry.
WEITZMAN
12:49:14
What does he do? Does he bark at it?
MAUREEN
12:49:16
Oh, no. He attacks it. He barks and he attacks it, he chews up the vacuum cleaner, he chews up the plugs.
WEITZMAN
12:49:22
Oh, no. Okay.
MAUREEN
12:49:23
Yeah. He doesn't like the vacuum at all.
WEITZMAN
12:49:26
Yeah. The mortal enemy of the dog.
MAUREEN
12:49:26
So, we've figured that out.
WEITZMAN
12:49:28
Okay.
MAUREEN
12:49:28
Yeah. We put him in his cage and everything, you know, he's still upset and agitated, but that's okay.
WEITZMAN
12:49:33
Yeah.
MAUREEN
12:49:33
But the bigger situation is he's very territorial, so that if there's another dog or another animal who walks anywhere near our house, he loses his mind and attacks the curtains and the windows and jumps and barks and does all kinds of things.
WEITZMAN
12:49:49
Okay.
MAUREEN
12:49:49
And we just need to figure out how to make him be a better neighbor, and to save my curtains.
WEITZMAN
12:49:54
Ah, yeah. Okay.
LITZINGER
12:49:56
(laugh) Problems there.
WEITZMAN
12:49:56
So this indoors she does it? Save your furniture...
LITZINGER
12:49:58
Right.
WEITZMAN
12:49:58
...your sanity too.
MAUREEN
12:49:59
Right.
WEITZMAN
12:50:00
Okay. So it's about dogs. He's reacting about dogs then when they're walking outside?
MAUREEN
12:50:06
It's not -- well, unfortunately he slipped out of the house a couple of times too, and then it's not just when it's through the window. Sometimes it's actually...
WEITZMAN
12:50:12
Okay.
MAUREEN
12:50:13
...face-to-face.
WEITZMAN
12:50:14
That's not an uncommon thing, and it's a tough one, you know. There's not a whole lot you're going to be able to do to change it except for to avoid the situation as much as you can.
MAUREEN
12:50:24
Okay.
WEITZMAN
12:50:25
So if you have a lot of dog parade going on outside of your house and he's inside guarding the living room and standing on the sofa, then you might want to draw the shades, you know...
MAUREEN
12:50:36
Okay.
WEITZMAN
12:50:36
...or the curtains. You can start to quote/unquote "attack" the problem by taking to a reactive dog class, and one of the things -- well, I'll correct that. The most common thing that dogs are reactive about are dogs, and, you know, we always joke, dogs are their own worst enemy because they're, you know, the most wonderful creatures in the world, but some of them in groups of others of them don't behave in the best way. So you could go to a reactive dog class, and I don't know if you're in the Washington D.C. area, but…
MAUREEN
12:51:08
I am.
WEITZMAN
12:51:09
...you know, my old and most beloved shelter, the Washington Animal Rescue League has a lot of reactive dog classes, so those are actually ones that you actually keep dogs apart when you're going in on the first day, and the tenth day when you're coming out, the dogs are all coming out together. It's like a machine. It's actually really wonderful to see. That may help with Spud, but it's probably not going to eliminate the whole issue, so he's going to always get aroused with other dogs, and you just have to watch it as much as you can and make sure, yeah, he doesn't get out and attack anybody, and he is a Terrier, so that's, you know, he's acting like a Terrier.
WEITZMAN
12:51:46
But it's just one of the multiple components of, you know, being a dog, and I think you just have to watch it for the most part. But you could try a reactive dog class to see if you can decrease it a bit.
MAUREEN
12:51:57
Okay. Great. That's sounds like a great opportunity for us to look into.
LITZINGER
12:52:00
Thank you, Maureen.
WEITZMAN
12:52:00
He sounds wonderful otherwise. So it's just...
LITZINGER
12:52:02
Spud's an excellent name for a dog anyway.
WEITZMAN
12:52:03
Yeah. It is a good name.
LITZINGER
12:52:05
And Spud has got a great future ahead of him. Thanks, Maureen. 877-610-3647 is our telephone number. Animalhouse@wamu.org is our email address. Maybe all animals should be named Spud. I'm just thinking about that now.
WEITZMAN
12:52:18
I like it.
LITZINGER
12:52:19
Let's take a telephone call from Donna. Donna, glad to have you with us in "The Animal House." Question for Dr. Gary?
DONNA
12:52:24
Yes, I do. My question is whether or not a puppy mill rescue is an appropriate choice for our family at this time.
WEITZMAN
12:52:34
Ah, okay.
DONNA
12:52:35
We put down our 14-year Lhasa about three weeks ago, and his companion dog, which is an 11-year-old Shih Tzu, is taking the loss much more seriously than we thought she was.
WEITZMAN
12:52:50
Hmm, okay.
DONNA
12:52:51
And we've decided to get another older small dog rescue. I actually have a lot of experience working with puppy mill dogs at the Washington Animal Rescue League for many years as a volunteer.
WEITZMAN
12:53:02
Okay.
DONNA
12:53:04
And I understand the needs of these dogs.
WEITZMAN
12:53:06
Yeah.
DONNA
12:53:07
But given the other pets in our home, I'm not sure the energy level in our house would be a good fit for one of these dogs at this time. We have, in addition to the Shih Tzu, a couple of cats which are both rescues. One is 19 and one is 14, and we have a very large two-and-a-half-year old, 103-pound Golden Retriever...
WEITZMAN
12:53:36
Oh, wow, okay.
DONNA
12:53:37
...who has feet like an Emu.
WEITZMAN
12:53:40
Okay.
DONNA
12:53:40
And he's a very big dog.
WEITZMAN
12:53:43
Yeah.
DONNA
12:53:43
He's well trained, but still throws his weight around a little bit and we're working on that.
LITZINGER
12:53:49
So Donna, let me interrupt. Are you specifically worried about a puppy mill dog in terms of the energy output of such an animal?
DONNA
12:53:56
Only in the sense that I think that a dog -- a puppy mill dog might be overwhelmed by the size and the energy level of the Golden. The Golden gets along well with the Shih Tzu, but he doesn't realize that he's a big dog living with a small dog...
WEITZMAN
12:54:22
Yeah.
DONNA
12:54:23
...and he plays with her as if she is his equal, and she handles him...
WEITZMAN
12:54:27
Oh, believe me, small dogs have no idea that they're small dogs anyway. You know that from working with dogs.
DONNA
12:54:31
Yeah.
WEITZMAN
12:54:33
Yeah. I would say it's wonderful, first of all, your volunteerism is wonderful, at the League. It's wonderful to be considering a puppy mill dog, and, you know, they do specialize there in, you know, getting puppy mill dogs to safety, which is terrific. But -- and you've seen those dogs. It's not one characterization that we could put on these animals. They're all different. There are some that are shut down, that are shy, there are some that are potentially -- well, they're like any dog. They can have behavior traits, but they do need behavior rehab.
WEITZMAN
12:55:07
They do need help, you know, from going from those horrific abuse situations into the lucky land of living in your home. But I think it really depends on the dog. I would not discourage you at all from looking at a dog that came from a puppy mill. You know, they can be absolutely fantastic, like any dog, and of course there are some challenges as well. But that's why it's important to talk to the adoption counselor wherever you go and, you know, I'm going to be biased and say go to a shelter or rescue group regardless of what you get, and then get the right match for your house.
WEITZMAN
12:55:43
Your house sounds fantastic to me. You know, a big old Golden, Shih Tzu, cats of different ages. I think that that would be a lucky place for a puppy mill to land, but like any dog, it has to be the right one for your family.
DONNA
12:55:56
Sure. I -- we've had Goldens in the past, and three seems to be the magic number. If you can be patient...
WEITZMAN
12:56:03
Mm-hmm.
DONNA
12:56:03
...until they get to age three, then they kind of mellow out.
WEITZMAN
12:56:06
Yes. No. If you if you live long enough to get to age three, yeah. I know.
DONNA
12:56:11
They mellow out and, you know, it gets easier.
WEITZMAN
12:56:15
Yeah.
DONNA
12:56:15
But I was just concerned about the fact that this is, you know, this is a very active, energetic house.
WEITZMAN
12:56:24
Yeah. Yeah.
DONNA
12:56:24
And I -- we're certainly capable of giving the attention, the training, and the patience to any dog.
WEITZMAN
12:56:32
Right.
DONNA
12:56:33
But I just didn't know whether, you know, a dog from a puppy mill versus a rescue dog from another situation...
WEITZMAN
12:56:42
I -- yeah.
DONNA
12:56:43
...was really the right way to go.
WEITZMAN
12:56:44
I don't think it matters. I think it just -- it completely depends on the dog.
DONNA
12:56:48
Oh, that's great, because I've got my eye on one at the Animal Rescue League.
WEITZMAN
12:56:52
Okay. I love it. I love it.
LITZINGER
12:56:52
(laugh) I suspected that was in the background already, Donna.
WEITZMAN
12:56:56
Figured that.
DONNA
12:56:56
As a matter of fact...
LITZINGER
12:56:57
Yes.
DONNA
12:56:58
...we're taking them -- the others over to see him on the weekend, so...
LITZINGER
12:57:02
That's great.
WEITZMAN
12:57:03
Oh, good.
DONNA
12:57:03
...hopefully this will all work out.
WEITZMAN
12:57:04
Good, good, good.
LITZINGER
12:57:05
I suspect by Monday there might be a new addition to the Donna family, Gary. What do you think?
WEITZMAN
12:57:09
Yeah, I think so.
LITZINGER
12:57:11
Donna, thank you very much for calling. Good to talk to you. And thank you, Dr. Gary.
WEITZMAN
12:57:14
Ah, thank you, Sam. I'm Dr. Gary Weitzman with an "Animal House" pet care tip. Why is dentistry such a big deal for our pets? They need it just as much as we do, sometimes more. Get them used to having their teeth brushed at least a couple times a week, preferably every day like we do. You have to use a pet toothpaste, and it's often liver or chicken flavored, and sometimes even fish flavored for cats, but these are digestible toothpastes, unlike ours. Of course, you have to get your pets used to you doing this, so start slowly with a soft pet toothbrush, apply the paste on the outside of the teeth and don't bother with that inside because you'll never get that far.
WEITZMAN
12:57:53
Do a little of this twice a week to start, and reward with a high-value treat, and be sure to talk to your vet about getting full dental cleaning at least once every couple years. If you can, avoid the non-anesthetic versions. You can't get under the gums where the tarter starts, and it will just annoy your pet. For "The Animal House," I'm Dr. Gary Weitzman.
LITZINGER
12:58:11
This edition of "The Animal House," is near completion, but first, here's the answer to our "Animal of the Day" quiz. Earlier we asked if you could identify the animal that's known as the world's highest production dairy animal, the answer, the Holstein Cow, which can usually be identified by its distinctive black and white markings. Thanks to our guests, Steven Wise, Elizabeth Howard, Jenny Brown, and WAMU news reporter Elliott Francis for their contributions today. We also thank Bob James and Acoustic Alchemy for their music today. Special thanks to Dr. Gary Weitzman for his work, and thanks to you for joining us in "The Animal House." I'm Sam Litzinger.
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